02. most love like hunters

[worthy]

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[jesus_is_gundam]

[Setsuna's expression doesn't change (it almost never does), despite Amuro's attempts at placating. So there is that same stare, as if he doesn't entirely believe him. Eventually, he breaks his gaze away to look at the 00.]

Operational.

[The GN Drives had unlimited operational capacity, so refueling was never an issue for him. And he was fortunate that most of the damage he'd received so far was enough that red haro could walk him through repairs. The 0 Raiser was out of missiles, but that wasn't much of a concern to him.

His eyes then scan across the hangar, settling on Amuro's suit. The nu-Gundam.]

Yours?

[79]

Its bazooka is damaged. [ Amuro answers plainly, dragging his fingers in sequence over the holopad. For his peacekeeping, he wasn't very adept at not fighting full-tilt. ] And four fin funnels are undergoing repairs.

[ With a series of schematics for the Nu now cascading across the device's screen, Amuro offers it by way of simply letting it go next to Setsuna. It floats harmlessly in the anti-grav for him to pick up if he so chooses. Amuro's not quite sure he follows the other pilot's tight-lipped policy regarding mobile suits; for him, it wasn't uncommon for both the Federation and Zeon to receive supplies and weaponry from the same corporation. A sad inevitability of war equaling profit. ]

I'm more impressed with your Haro being capable of repairs. [ Amuro kicks off the floor and soars straight up to one of the catwalks spanning the hangar. Mobile suits of all makes line the cages, an odd team, but no less formidable for its ragtag looks. ]

Are you sure you won't let Astonaige look at it? [ Or, you know, him. He rests his elbow on the railing amiably. ] You won't find a better mechanic.

[jesus_is_gundam]

[Celestial Being spent 200 years making sure no one knew they even existed, secrecy is kind of their thing. Then there's Setsuna, who isn't so much secretive as he simply is quiet. Though he is also curious, and takes the device to read up more on the nu Gundam.]

Its unnecessary. [To have someone else look at it. Though if you ask nicely Amuro...

Not long after that, Setsuna pushed off the floor and up to the catwalk, catching the railing to stop his upward progress. Not that he bothers to hold still, pushing off, and heading in the direction of the Nu Gundam.]

You have a psychoframe. [Its not a question, though Setsuna has no idea what a psychoframe actually is.]

[79]

[ Amuro mostly remains neutrally positioned, going no farther towards either the 00 or the Nu and instead let Setsuna lead. Though he is partly amused the other pilot decided to take a look at the schematics after all. ]

That's right. [ Granted, even Amuro himself isn't 100% sure of its properties. He'd coined it in theory and partly in execution, and Anaheim had supposedly met him halfway. Talking about it is something he doesn't mind, because he is, and has always been, a colossal nerd at heart. ] Are you familiar with it?

[ Getting there, okay. He allows the Nu to take the stage and follows Setsuna across the catwalk towards it. There are various mechanics working on dormant fin funnels suspended in its vicinity. ]

[jesus_is_gundam]

[He lands softly in front of the nu Gundam, quietly inspecting it. He looks at the fin funnels for a moment, but keeps most of his attention on the suit. Much like Amuro, there was something about that machine that pulled at him, though Setsuna would have a hard time explaining what.]

No. [He gets the general gist behind it, he thinks, but his world is devoid of psychoframe technology, at least as it relates here. Though listening to an explanation is something Setsuna doesn't mind, because he is, and always will be, a total gundam nut.] I've never heard of Minovsky particles either.

[79]

[ That information actually surprises him, in a manner of speaking. Just from observing the 00 Raiser's performance, Amuro would have thought it at least utilized some manner of Minovsky particles in its reactor. Then again, he'd never been allowed close enough to confirm it for himself.

So it was just guesswork, in the end. But Setsuna's blase demeanor wasn't animosity, at least, so he had that going for him. ]

The light your Gundam creates. [ Amuro stops across from him and nods towards it. ] I guessed it was some kind of particle it emits in its output. Am I wrong?

[jesus_is_gundam]

[There's a sideways glance, because Setsuna sees what you did thar, bro. In the end, he doesn't bother chiding Amuro for it, but otherwise ignores the question by focusing on the nu-Gundam.]

You can use a psychoframe because you're a Newtype.

[Conjecture at best on Setsuna's part, based mostly on what little he knows about Newtypes in general. These Innovators-yet-not-Innovators...]

[79]

[ Drat. Caught red-handed. Amuro eases his attention away from the 00 again, honoring Setsuna's bullheaded obstinacy in playing keep-away with information. Square one doubled back to the Nu, he supposes, with patience that is not insincere. ]

At it's core, that's true. [ Amuro has long since grown into what he is: the "unknown" element. The stigma still lingers with him, for all his dedication and compassion, but now was not the time. ] The data there is as you see it. The psycommu system is a mind-to-machine interface that translates a Newtype's brainwaves into electrical commands.

[jesus_is_gundam]

They're not quantum brainwaves... [At least, not in any form that he can recognize. Though, admittedly, he's far from an expert on the subject, and given that he's humanity's first Innovator, there are no real experts to turn to. Its left Setsuna to muddle through much of this on his own, to be pulled by instincts that he can barely understand. He's painfully aware of how different he is, and the stigma has all but crushed any social development he's made in the last few years.

Why those instincts keep pulling him towards Amuro and the Nu, he couldn't begin to explain. But he does start to understand as he hits along a line of thought regarding the Psychoframe.]

...but the psychoframe lets you become one with your machine.

You can become... Gundam...

[Which may not seem like the biggest deal on the surface, but the way Setsuna hands tighten on the railing, and the intensity with which he's staring down the Nu Gundam, this might be something of importance. (To Setsuna, anyway)]

[79]

Become...? [ Amuro finds himself briefly tangled in the wording. Becoming part of the machine sounded wildly unreasonable to him, but he says nothing out loud, noting the profound effect it has on the other pilot. Then he remembers that he is not the most reasonable of people to deal with himself. Maybe that was something they could relate on, even if Amuro is certain it wouldn't be the only thing. ]

I'm not familiar with quantum brainwaves. [ Amuro leans on the railing, arms crossed. ] But you could look at it that way. Utilizing the Gundam's power via thought. Being able to visualize your enemy and with those--[ He points at a newly operational fin funnel being stacked onto the Nu. ]--make them fall.

[ Amuro is about results. Data, physical technology, raw material he could shape to his liking. Complicated, but linear. Being a Newtype, something so seemingly infinite and nebulous in concept, contradicted everything he thought he knew about himself when he'd first encountered the Gundam. ]

It was that ability that exposed Newtypes to the world. [ With him at the forefront. ] But not the idea that made the Earth fear them.

[jesus_is_gundam]

[Setsuna, by contrast, has always been a big picture guy. It was the broad strokes that mattered, the details were what you put into them. He was a man of faith, even if, rather than having faith in god, he had faith in Gundam.

It wasn't something Amuro understood yet, given the way he answered, but this was still a feeling out process between them.]

So what did? [Make the earth fear them, he means, though he doesn't bother to clarify.]

[79]

The unknown. Those on Earth fear what humanity could become in space. The emergence of Newtypes was seen as dangerous if they couldn't be controlled.

[ His gaze also locks onto his Gundam. Amuro had invested everything he was into the Nu. It was a machine--a weapon--but something else altogether, too. ]

But humanity doesn't deserve to be punished for that.

[ Gravity should not have been as good as a death sentence. Not like he wanted. ]

[jesus_is_gundam]

[He glances over to Amuro for a moment, hearing what wasn't directly said, that they couldn't understand him. Setsuna's expression turns thoughtful for a moment, before he looks back at the Nu.]

Were you able to come to an understanding with them?

[79]

[ That was the million dollar question. Amuro has to think about that for a second. ]

No.

[ For all the alliances, the friendships, the lovers, and the wars that raged through each of them... ]

But that kind of understanding can't be forced onto humanity. It takes time.

[jesus_is_gundam]

[Setsuna can only say one thing in response to that.]

No.

[There's a certain emphasis behind that rejection. Time? One year? Ten years? A hundred years? Time is something that happens too passively for anything to change.]

If you want the world to change, if you want them to truly understand you, you have to fight.

[79]

[ Amuro could argue with him. Tell him that's what Char Aznable would say. But intent is everything, and he only smiles wryly. Even if Setsuna's solution was to fight, it wasn't to force war upon humanity. Destroy the planet. Jettison them into space out of pure selfishness. ]

Only someone who perceives things differently would say something like that.

[ He looks at him sidelong. Not a Newtype, and yet... ]

Right?

[jesus_is_gundam]

[No, that would be a waste of a planet. But dropkicking some sense into humanity was not out of the question.]

That's what Celestial Being is about.

[Might be ducking the question entirely.]

[79]

[ Well, stop it. ]

I meant you, specifically.

[jesus_is_gundam]

[There's a pause, since he knows what Amuro is getting at. After a moment, he turns his head to look at the 00.]

...I'm a Gundam Meister.

[There's enough of an inflection to convey that that's not the answer you're looking for, I know. But its about the only honest answer he can give. At least using words. And wearing pants]

[79]

[ Okay but you have to wine and dine him, first. In some ways, he understands how there's no reasonable way to really articulate what it means to harbor the kinds of changes Newtypes go through. Or whatever equivalent it was Setsuna had. ]

I think you're able to sense things others don't. You're aware of it, but you don't know how to use it yet.

[ Not really a fine or subtle point. And also fairly personal, on Amuro's part. Shots in the dark were all he had left. Until the glitter comes in. ]

Your machine... that Gundam, the 00. It reacts to that power you have. Just like the Nu Gundam.

[ That light on the battlefield he can't explain. ]

[jesus_is_gundam]

[Again, there's a stillness, mostly because Amuro's shot in the dark happened to hit something.]

I feel things...

[Unfortunately, that's about as well as Setsuna can articulate being an Innovator. His evolution granted him a lot of new abilities, but eloquence wasn't one of them.]

It's not a machine. Its changed.

We've changed.

[Well. You got four sentence fragments out of him. Progress?]

[79]

[ In truth, Amuro doesn't know what he thinks of an ambition lofty enough to end war. He hates it, but it's gotten into his bones, seeped in so far that no matter his own feelings, he's come to accept its presence.

His fight had always been personal, anyway.

So maybe Setsuna has a kind of promise that he never did. ]

Few people understand that. [ He exhales patiently. PROGRESS. ] What will you do together now that you've changed?

[ Referring to the 00 as if it were alive is still something he's trying to get used to. But hey, trying is the name of the game, here. ]

[jesus_is_gundam]

We'll eradicate war. [Yeah, back to that. But that's part of who he is. Though he does add to that--] And we'll help bring about the reformation of humanity.

[Setsuna doesn't do anything by halves.]

[79]

[ Amuro closes his eyes, trying to lock in that statement. Though that need for remembrance disappears a second later. ]

You could probably do it. [ The 00 commands his attention again, the one suit present he knows nothing about and yet feels like he somehow gets. ] No, you won't stop until you do. Neither of you, for the sake of the world.

[ Amuro finally moves from the railing, past him--seemingly satisfied with that answer. Faintly, he tacks on: Not like him at all. ]

[jesus_is_gundam]

[Setsuna initially lets him float by silently, almost as if this conversation was over. But its not. Not yet anyway, as there's something Setsuna still needs to know.]

What about you?

[He turns to face Amuro, then pushes himself off the railing and follows him.]

What will you do now that you've changed?